2 CD brilliant box. Mythologies is Thomas Bangalter's first composition for orchestra, conceived upon request of choreographer Angelin Preljocaj for the ballet of the same name. Performed by the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine under the direction of Romain Dumas, it is a large and lyrical work in which Bangalter, co-founder of Daft Punk, reinvents his relationship to composition.

This cello prodigy belongs in the family of the greatest artists of all time, states La Provence. Recorded with the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester and conductor Michael Sanderling, this album from Edgar Moreau features works from composers who have been inspired by different aspects of Jewish life, religion, and culture. It includes Bruch's Kol Nidrei, Ernst Bloch's Schelomo & From Jewish Life, Korngold's Cello Concerto, and Ravel's Deux Melodies H�braiques. Moreau loves this repertoire and gives it a prominent place in concerts: it is essential for him to "transmit" this.

Joyce DiDonato: In War and Peace - Harmony Through Music (DVD) Recorded live in June 2017 at the magnificent Liceu Theatre in Barcelona, this DVD is the companion to Joyce DiDonato's award-winning album In War and Peace: Harmony through Music. Seeking answers to the existential question "In the midst of chaos, how do you find peace?", it makes a compelling piece of music theatre as DiDonato journeys through arias by Handel, Purcell, Monteverdi, Leo and Jommelli with Il Pomo d'Oro and conductor Maxim Emelyanychev. On stage, In War and Peace: Harmony through Music makes a compelling piece of music theatre. In Barcelona, as on the European and North American tours she made in late 2016, DiDonato was joined by the baroque orchestra Il Pomo d'Oro and it's principal conductor Maxim Emelyanychev. May and June 2018 bring further performances in Portugal, France, Germany, Turkey and Hungary. Includes Bonuses: Joyce DiDonato presents "In War & Peace" project. Joyce DiDonato in Athens with el Sistema Greece directed by Josh Allott. Video Clip Lascia ch'io pianga directed by James Darrah

Alexandre Tharaud's relationship with film music runs deep - it also ranges wide. On his double album CINEMA, the French pianist delves into 50 celebrated film scores by composers from France, Italy, the USA, Japan, Poland, Romania and Lebanon - 19 in all. Among them are Michel Legrand, John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Francis Lai, Marvin Hamlisch, Nino Rota and Philip Glass. As Tharaud says: "This album pays tribute to them with a selection of pieces for piano and orchestra and for piano solo, most in their original versions, creating a sound-world every bit as thrilling without the motion picture." The movie magic is reinforced by Tharaud's starry partners on the album: Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and making guest appearances are singers Vanessa Paradis, Cam�lia Jordana and Sabine Devieilhe, clarinettist Michel Portal and vioinist Nemanja Radulovic.

PIANO WORKS

Schubert: String Quartets No 13-15 / Artemis Quartet. Composer: Franz Schubert, Orchestra/Ensemble: Artemis String Quartet. The Artemis Quartet is one of an elite group of string quartets on the world stage today. After having been awarded with Germany's prestigious Klassik ECHO award and France s Grand Prix de I Academie Charles Cros in 2011 for their Virgin Classics Beethoven cycle, the members of Artemis Quartet now release an all-Schubert CD. It presents the composer s final three string quartets: No. 13 in A minor, Rosamude; No. 14 in D minor, Death and the Maiden and No. 15 in G major. This new Schubert album joints the Artemis Quartet s 2008 release of the composer s String Quintet (for which cellist Truls Mork complemented the ensemble) and Quartettsatz in C minor.

Richard Strauss considered Mozart to be "the most sublime of all composers". Both Mozart and Strauss wrote exquisitely for the soprano voice and Sabine Devieilhe, with pianist Mathieu Pordoy, has assembled a beautifully balanced programme of their songs. Among them is Strauss's sublime 'Morgen', which brings a guest appearance by violinist Vilde Frang. When Devieilhe and Pordoy performed Mozart and Strauss at London's Wigmore Hall, The Spectator wrote of a "heart-stopping soprano" who made the songs "sound dewy-fresh. Her voice picked up and outlined each word; long lines sounded spontaneous but wholly considered. The clarity and the lightly worn self-awareness of Devieilhe's singing made for a seductive combination."

The sixth album of the prodigy sisters with 470,000 albums sold. French classical crossover stars go back to their roots and revisit the repertoire they loved growing up. An enticing assortment of lean-back repertoire, including Hans Zimmer's "Now We Are Free" (from the movie Gladiator), Pr�lude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1, Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", The Beatles's "Yesterday", and Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Some tracks feature piano accompaniment. Camille and Julie Berthollet's second album has now sold more than 100 000 copies in France and is now a Platinum Album.

ARIAS

Sabine Devieilhe takes the title role of the Nightingale in Stravinsky's miniature three-act opera Le Rossignol, while Francois-Xavier Roth - conducting the cast of leading French soloists, the choral singers of Ensemble Aedes, and the period instruments of his orchestra Les Si�cles - evokes all the magic of the score. This recording was made in March 2023 when the opera was presented in a production at the Th��tre des Champs-Elys�es. "Sabine Devieilhe will remain unforgettable as the disconcertingly sensual Nightingale," declared Le Figaro.

Michael Spyres's new album, recorded with the fabulous Il Pomo d'Oro under Francesco Corti, features works by Handel, Hasse, Mazzoni, Pergolesi, Porpora, Sarro, Scarlatti, Vinci, Vivaldi, and more - spanning even to Mozart. He states, "In truth, this album's concept was born out of my research to find the absolute extremes of the human voice whether it be yodeling, tuvian throat singing, overtone singing, or the many categories of the classical voice. There has never been an album dedicated to this era of vocal history which is by all accounts uncategorizable by the fach system not to mention virtually unsingable to most singers in the present day".

Jan Willem Jansen Couperin: Harpsichord & Organ Works (2CD) Like the Bach family, the Couperins were a musical dynasty. Louis - the uncle of Fran�ois 'le Grand' had established himself as organist of St Gervais by the mid-1650s and entering royal service shortly after as 'chamber musician' on the treble viol. He went on to become one of the most original and individual keyboard composers in France. Despite a short carrier - he died early in 1661 at the age of just thirty-five - he left more than 120 harpsichord pieces and 70 works for organ - most of them discovered in the 60's - which highlight his refined genius of colour and counterpoint. Units Per Set: 2

Christina Pluhar collaborates with star countertenor Philippe Jaroussky and her ensemble L'Arpeggiata for a great program of French Baroque music: de Vis�e, Antoine Boesset, Etienne Moulin�, Michel Lambert, and many more.

Months after winning the 1960 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Maurizio Pollini signed an exclusive contract with EMI and recorded two albums dedicated to the Polish composer. While the first, featuring the Piano Concerto No. 1, was warmly received upon release, the second, comprising the �tudes faced an uncertain fate. Pollini withdrew his approval during post-production, offering no explanation. For decades, this recording seemed destined to remain unheard. However, in 2011, it was finally approved by Pollini and released in an edited version. This new 2025 edition, the first to be remastered from the original tapes, not only highlights Pollini's technical brilliance but also reveals the touching sensitivity of the 18-year-old pianist.

Elsa Dreisig credits Mozart with being the composer who first inspired her to become a professional singer. Now the French-Danish soprano pays him tribute with an album devoted entirely to arias from his operas. It's title, Mozart x3, reflects a programme constructed around the three masterpieces composed to libretti written by Lorenzo Da Ponte: Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cos� fan tutte. Elsa Dreisig sings arias allocated to three different characters in each of these operas. The total of nine 'Da Ponte arias' is complemented by three arias from examples of the dignified genre opera seria: La clemenza di Tito, Idomeneo and Lucio Silla. Accompanying Elsa Dreisig is the Kammerorchester Basel, conducted by Louis Langr�e, now director of Paris's celebrated Op�ra-Comique.

Mozart's treatment of the various characters in Lucio Silla is masterly, says Laurence Equilbey, "Shaking up the conventions of opera seria, he conveys the passions and torments of the human soul." A drama of passion and politics in Ancient Rome, Lucio Silla was composed in 1772, when Mozart was just sixteen. This recording represents the culmination of an extended project undertaken by Equillbey, her Insula Orchestra, Le Jeune Choeur de Paris and five brilliant solo singers. Between 2016 and 2021, Equilbey's Lucio Silla became a much-praised travelling show visiting such locations as Paris, Vienna, Aix-en-Provence, Versailles and Beaune. The title role is taken by tenor Alessandro Liberatore, who is joined by countertenor Franco Fagioli and three contrasting sopranos, Olga Pudova, Chiara Skerath and Ilse Eerens.

With Forgotten Arias countertenor Philippe Jaroussky pays tribute to composers of the late Baroque era and to the great librettist of the age, Pietro Metasasio. All ten arias on the album, written between 1748 and 1770 by nine composers, are heard in world premiere recordings. Metasasio's librettos were set by multiple composers - Vivaldi, Handel, Gluck and Mozart among them - resulting in hundreds of operas. The more familiar names on the multi-faceted programme of Forgotten Arias are Gluck, Johann Christian Bach, Jommelli, Hasse and Piccinni. Less well-known are Bernasconi, Ferrandini, Traetta and Valentini. Jaroussky's partners on the album are the conductor Julien Chauvin and his orchestra Le Concert de la Loge. All in all, Forgotten Arias looks set to be highly memorable.

The Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo and it's Artistic and Music Director Kazuki Yamada, interprets the now 'traditional' recorded pairing of two sumptuous, escapist French song cycles: Berlioz's Les Nuits d'été and Ravel's Shéhérazade. Complementing them both musically and thematically is a third, less frequently heard cycle by another great French composer, Camille Saint-Saëns: his Mélodies Persanes (Persian Songs).

"From the first note to the last, Lemieux's interpretation of the Berlioz was exemplary..." wrote Bachtrack when she performed Les Nuits d'été in Paris. "From the depths of her lower register to her shimmering high notes, she traced a supple trajectory through the work, phrasing with amplitude and missing no opportunity for word-painting." Palazzetto Bru Zane's new edition of the cycle Saint-Saëns: Mélodies Persanes presented here, is a premiere recording, it gathers these orchestrations of the songs but restores the original piano-vocal order, repurposing two brief interludes from Nuit persane to serve as an orchestral introduction and transition.

The music of Ravel is especially close to Alexandre Tharaud's heart. Now, in partnership with the Orchestre National de France and conductor Louis Langrée, he has recorded both the composer's piano concertos, pairing them with Noches en los jardines de España (Nights in the Gardens of Spain), Manuel de Falla's sumptuous work for piano and orchestra.

"Ravel's Concerto in G major is fresh and Mozartian in it's colours, while his Concerto for the Left Hand is haunted by dark shades and suppressed fears," says Tharaud. Both concertos were premiered in 1932. "Characteristically for Ravel, they are simultaneously unique and alike. They share meticulous craftsmanship and jazzy touches, and both evoke little automata and the ghosts of war." The cross-currents of French and Spanish culture, so evident in Ravel's aesthetic, flow though Falla's concerto-like piece too. The Andalusian composer lived for a time in Paris and became friendly with Ravel. "The solo piano in Noches en los jardines de España plays a different role from the piano in the Ravel concertos," continues Tharaud. "It blends in more closely with the orchestra, though the works share a Romantic spirit and a poignant sense of nostalgia."

Gabriel Pierné - French composer, pianist, organist, and conductor - was born and raised in a family of musicians. At the Paris Conservatoire, he formed a stimulating musical friendship with Debussy, one year his senior, and was led by masters such as Massenet and Franck to the Prix de Rome, which he won in 1882. Celebrated as a performer - he succeeded Franck at the great Cavaillé-Coll organ in the Basilica of Saint Clotilde and took over from Mr. Colonne at the head of his eponymous orchestra - Pierné was also honored as a composer, leaving an inventive and witty body of work with more than fifty opus numbers. This edition presents his compositions in dazzlingly diverse performances, with the composer himself at the piano and baton, inviting the listener on an exciting exploration of his marvellous career.

Renaud Capu�on recognises Vivaldi's Four Seasons as "a highlight of the violin repertoire", but it has taken him some time to add it to his discography. "For years, I refused to play it," he explains. "I'd heard it too much in the corridors of the M�tro in Paris and as holding music on the phone. But once I'd accepted to play it, I was blown away by the power of the music... I realised that it's famous because it's amazing! It's a masterpiece. I've now played it frequently with Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and it feels fresh and new every time." He has chosen to complement Vivaldi's four concertos with two sparkling concertos composed in Paris some 40 years after Vivaldi's death. They are by Chevalier de Saint-George (1745-1799), born in Guadeloupe of French and African descent, who became a prominent and influential figure in Paris. He has been described in the New York Times as a composer who holds a "truly unique place in Western classical music history".

Renaud Capu�on recognises Vivaldi's Four Seasons as "a highlight of the violin repertoire", but it has taken him some time to add it to his discography. "For years, I refused to play it," he explains. "I'd heard it too much in the corridors of the M�tro in Paris and as holding music on the phone. But once I'd accepted to play it, I was blown away by the power of the music... I realised that it's famous because it's amazing! It's a masterpiece. I've now played it frequently with Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and it feels fresh and new every time." He has chosen to complement Vivaldi's four concertos with two sparkling concertos composed in Paris some 40 years after Vivaldi's death. They are by Chevalier de Saint-George (1745-1799), born in Guadeloupe of French and African descent, who became a prominent and influential figure in Paris. He has been described in the New York Times as a composer who holds a "truly unique place in Western classical music history".

Cellist Gautier Capu�on, acting as 'godfather' through the foundation he established in early 2022, presents three outstanding young musicians, all prize winners in international competitions: the Italian pianist Martina Consonni, the French violinist Sarah J�gou-Sageman, and the South Korean cellist Jeein You. Speaking of his foundation, Gautier Capu�on says: "This philanthropic project is close to my heart and extends my long-standing commitment to music education and charitable endeavours." It supports exceptional young musicians in France and around the world during their studies and in the early stages of their careers. On this album Martina Consonni performs Robert Schumann's Papillons, then joins Sarah J�gou-Sageman for Schumann's Sonata No 1 for violin and piano, and Jeein You for Poulenc's Sonata for Cello and Piano. All three musicians come together for C�cile Chaminade's Piano Trio No 1, a work dating from 1880 when the composer was just 22 years old.

Michel Corboz was a conductor whose joy in singing inspired his exploration of choral works. An early love of music, and vocal music in particular, was nurtured by congregational singing at church (including plainsong) and radio broadcasts of Bach cantatas on Sundays. Corboz consistently endorsed an artistry in which everything began with the vocal impulse ("I want an orchestra that sings", he declared in 1980). That approach is evident in his recordings of Bach's major sacred works. Corboz waited before recording the Passion and Christmas Oratorio, working each time with his Lausanne ensemble and tenor Kurt Equiluz, a quite exceptional Evangelist. The Mass in B minor and the Magnificat are two other key works in Corboz's discographic legacy.

Classical Music